Re: Are macros possible in ACT!

It sounds as if you'd like have macros in Act! that run calculations to populate a field based on the values in other fields. If that is correct, there is no function within the Act! program to do so.

There are add-ons that will perform these types of functions, one such add-on is Automatic Field Calculations (Sage technical support does not support any add-ons). To review a complete list of add-ons, visit this site: Act! add-ons.

If you were looking for a different type of macro, please expand on your question.

Re: Are macros possible in ACT!

I already use Automatic Field Calculations. Excel will allow you to record macros, such as clicking on print/report/reportname.xxx So I was hoping there was a macro recorder available for ACT! to automate some processes.

Re: Are macros possible in ACT!

No, an activity series does not satisfy my need in the least unfortunately. Can I put a email template on the tool bar? Is there a way to make an email template where the automatic entry into the TO: field is not necessarily the open contact at the time?

The way we use ACT!, we have different job functions (people) who enter data at different stages. We have a highly, highly customized set of tabs. It would be great if we could somehow have a command button or at least an email button on the tool bar where the user can alert the next person in the process flow that data has been entered and it is "their turn" to take over the next phase. It seems there are way too many places where ACT! doesn't allow customization because they haven't anticipated very well how people will use the DB.

Re: Are macros possible in ACT!

I came up with the idea of using the ACT! triggers to get what you need done. First, you need to use the OLEDB(Reporting 2.0) with Excel to extract the names of the users/employees from ACT!. Once that is done, you need to use a VBScript to convert it to a .csv file in order for something like Macro Express to pull the data while Excel is closed. Of course, you can use a dropdown list in ACT! to do the same thing. Of course, if employees leave or new one are hired, you have to deal with changing the dropdown list on the layout.

You can use Macro Express to be able to sense what you chose in your dropdown list (on the ACT! layout) as to who to send it to and what to send. All of this can be done in a hidden mode where the email can be sent automatically as a template (in a hidden mode)without a premade template from Outlook popping up or you can choose to have multiple pre-made Outlook template open up from a multiple choice box or context menu(so you can choose which one to send) with the next person's name, subject, body etc. already prefilled in. I would guess that sometimes the current user might want to drop some additional information for the next person to know. If not, the next person could just refer to the Notes tab to see what has been written.

In all of this, I am making assumptions on how your business works. However, there is no scenario that would be too tough with Macro Express and/or vbscripting.

Sage is so woeful on it's trigger system though. It can sense that the field has changed and trigger something, but it cannot sense what you chose from the dropdown list and fire off an email based on conditionals and maybe other fields chosen on the screen. That's where www.macros.com comes in. and maybe a little bit of vbscripting.

Re: Are macros possible in ACT!

patgenn123, thanks for taking the time to provide the well thought out responses you made. I purchased MacroExpress Pro today, waiting to have it installed on the server. From what I've read about it, I believe it will take care of the specific needs I had in mind. If nothing else, I should be able to record a macro to open an email merge template that has a couple of the fields containing the information I want to pass on. I can then use a tool from an Exponenciel add on to create a command button to execute the macro. That is how I'll do it if I can't figure out a way to have an ACT! trigger automatically execute it.

And you are right, ACT! is rather lame in so many ways. Had I realized all the ACT! limitations when I had started this effort, I would have purchased a more powerful CRM App or tried to create the DB in Access or something similar.

Re: Are macros possible in ACT!

You are going to love all the other things that ME can do. It is really impressive. I have come up with lists of things to do with ME Pro and ACT! since ACT! is so limited out of the box. Believe me, combining these two programs practically knocks out any other assistance you would need from any addon. It just takes some imagination. Good luck. Let me know how it goes.

I have been using ME Pro for 4 years now. With it, it has overcome practically every liability ACT! has thrown at me short of the programmatical shortcomings of the software. It will save you a lot of money going this way.

Re: Are macros possible in ACT!

I worked with the ME tech person to use the keystroke commands macro to run the email template I described. Just a matter of putting in a few delays and fine tuning them to get it to work. It looks like I can either use the shortcut as a lnk file or create the macro as an executable to have it run automatically when a field in ACT! is changed.

At first I was frustrated with ME Express Pro, I tried using the record function thinking it was the same as recording a macro in Excel using the Excel macro tool. Quickly discovered it works differently and would not be a viable solution all.

I can see how using ME could replace some of the things I'm doing with several Exponenciel addons. I'll play with ME some more and see what kind of other clever things can be done.

Thanks again for all your help and turning me on to ME Express Pro. I am confident that tool will end up savings us a ton of time in efficiency.